Will new law set effective standards for sheriffs?

Published 1:30 am Friday, April 10, 2026

When Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson recently signed a bill that would strengthen standards for leaders of law enforcement agencies, he said he had some reservations.

Those reservations seem well-founded. Although Senate Bill 5974 attempts to solve a need, it may be imperfect and may need to be amended within the next few years. Leaders need to carefully watch this new law to make sure it is improving law enforcement leadership around the state, and not just politicizing it. The bill also needs to be analyzed to see if it is effective in cases where law enforcement officers appear to be qualified on paper, but have proven to be unsuitable.

Democrats promoted the bill, which sets new minimum standards for candidates to head police agencies. According to The Seattle Times, candidates will need to be at least 25 years old, have five years of law enforcement experience and undergo a background check. That seems like a reasonable standard, although Pacific County Sheriff Daniel Garcia will have to be grandfathered, because he had no law enforcement experience when he was elected in 2022.

The more controversial part of the bill ties a sheriff’s ability to stay in office to having a valid peace officer certification. Those certificates are issued by the Washington Criminal Justice Training Commission, which has 21 board members appointed by the governor. The board members have to have certain qualifications to serve; they aren’t just political appointees.

Opponents of the new bill worry that the commission can be weaponized to remove qualified sheriffs due to their political views. That could be possible, although it seems unlikely. The decertification project is lengthy, with multiple investigations, appeals and hearings. A five-member panel of three civilians and two law enforcement officers makes the final decision.

In reality, the Times reports, it rarely gets that far. Thousands of complaints are filed by people with a beef about cops. Of 39 county sheriffs, 18 have open complaints. But most cases lack merit. In the last five years, only 11 cases have made it to the hearings panel. The last time a sheriff was decertified was in 2023, when the Lincoln County sheriff was found to have made false statements about his son’s DUI.

The bill also may not get at the root of helping communities plagued by poor, or even corrupt, law enforcement.

Clark County has been fortunate in this century, electing three sheriffs — Garry Lucas, Chuck Atkins and incumbent John Horch — who had extensive law enforcement backgrounds and training, and strove to perform their duties to the best of their abilities.

But other sheriffs are more controversial. In the Columbia River Gorge, Klickitat County Sheriff Bob Songer considers himself a “constitutional sheriff,” and not bound by laws he finds personally unappealing. When asked in February by a reporter about sending daily jail rosters to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is against state law, Songer said, “I have made it clear that I will work with ICE. And I don’t care if the attorney general or the governor take issue with it. …Just because the state has a law doesn’t mean it’s constitutional. As sheriff, that’s my opinion.”

Leading a law enforcement agency is hard work and requires training, skill and diligence. Sheriffs and police chiefs need to be fair to victims, suspects, staff, the general public — and to follow the law. Will SB 5974 help reach those goals? Time will tell, and vigilance will be needed.